Telefonica Unveils Smart 4G Network Experience

BARCELONA, Feb. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Telefonica today announced the first live experience of the world’s “smartest” 4G network, in the most ambitious technological innovation ever deployed at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) (1). The network – the world´s first of its kind in the 2.6Ghz frequency band – provides download speeds of 100 Mbps, between 40-60Mbps on upload, vastly improved indoor coverage and can increase capacity by up to 400% in high density data-traffic areas.

Based on Alcatel-Lucent’s lightRadio™ technology, Telefonica’s network is a revolutionary first step toward a real “HetNet” network, which greatly improves mobile coverage by bringing small-cell base stations closer to the customer. In this deployment conventional radio base stations co-exist with 4G metro cells (small base stations incorporating antennas and radio) working on the same frequency and with no interference. As a strong supporter for Telefonica’s LTE service initiative, Samsung is also presenting the first LTE smart mobile devices for band 7 (2.6Mhz), GALAXY S II LTE smartphone and GALAXY Tab 8.9 LTE tablet, which can be used on this new high-capacity network.

The most significant feature of Telefonica’s LTE network is its increased capacity – with each cell comfortably supporting 30 people browsing simultaneously with average speed of 30Mbps. Tests conducted on this network show that a 400% increase in capacity can be made available to users compared to a conventional network design, and that significantly higher capacity gains could be delivered with denser metro-network design. The network supports speeds of up to 10 times those offered by the 3G network, with download speeds of 100Mbps, upload speeds of 40-60 Mbps and with latency times of around 20-25 milliseconds.

“Today the future of mobile networks begins,” said Enrique Blanco, Telefonica’s Chief Technology Officer. “The deployment of LTE that Telefonica has brought to the MWC, together with Alcatel-Lucent, gives us a glimpse of a tomorrow where everyone and everything is seamlessly connected, and in superfast time. But the challenge ahead is to ensure that all the technologies currently being deployed – 2G, 3G, LTE, WiFi and Fiber – can co-exist to deliver next generation communications. Telefonica’s strategy is to develop intelligent networks that allow these different technologies to co-exist efficiently and cover customers’ growing connectivity needs in markets that are at different stages of development.”